OSHKOSH, Wis.- UW-Oshkosh welcomes some of the most pedigreed programs in the country when it hosts a NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship sectional Friday and Saturday (March 13-14) in Kolf Sports Center.
 
Oshkosh (26-3) plays five-time national champion Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) (21-6) during the third round of the national tournament at 8 p.m. Friday.
 
The Oshkosh Sectional opener features three-time Division III champion Hope College (Mich.) (26-3) battling University of Chicago (Ill.) (19-7) at 5:30 p.m.
 
Friday's winners will meet at 8 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the Division III Final Four on March 19 in Salem, Va.
 
The other three sectional hosts are New York University, University of Scranton (Pa.), and Washington and Lee University (Va.). The winner of Oshkosh's sectional will oppose the Washington and Lee Sectional victor.
 
Oshkosh, the 1996 national champion, is hosting a sectional tournament for the second time in program history and first since the 1994 third and fourth rounds were contested in Albee Hall.
 
The host Titans, seeking to advance to the Final Four for the second straight year and the fourth time overall, enter the weekend ranked fourth in the country by D3hoops.com, eighth by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and second in the NCAA Power Index.
 
WashU is ranked 15th by D3hoops.com, 17th by the WBCA and 15th in the NPI. The Bears' five national titles, four runner-up finishes and 10 overall Final Four trips are the most in Division III history.
 
Hope is seventh in both the D3hoops.com poll and the NPI while ranking sixth nationally in the coach's poll. The Flying Dutch's three national titles are tied for the third most in division history.
 
UChicago checks in at 17th by D3hoops.com, 20th by the WBCA and 21st in the NPI. The Maroons, who compete along with WashU in the University Athletic Association, are vying for their first Final Four trip.
 
UW-Oshkosh Titans

UW-Oshkosh earned its way to the third round with home victories by scores of 53-37 over Webster University (Mo.) in the first round and 65-56 against Wisconsin Lutheran College during the second round.
 
The Titans received the first of 21 at-large bids into the 64-team Division III Championship field after falling during the WIAC Tournament title game, 52-49, to UW-La Crosse. La Crosse plays University of Southern Maine in the NCAA third round Friday in New York City.
 
Oshkosh won its third consecutive WIAC outright regular season title, marking the first program to accomplish the feat since UW-Green Bay claimed the Division II segment of the league from 1980-82.
 
The Titans pace the entire NCAA, regardless of division, by committing just 9.7 turnovers per game. Oshkosh's scoring defense ranks second in Division III at 45.7 points per game while its 1.20 assist-to-turnover ration lists 10th. The Titans have held seven opponents to less than 40 points on the year.
 
WIAC Player of the Year Paige Seckar (Oshkosh/Oshkosh West) leads the Titans with 13.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. The sophomore forward had 21 points and 12 rebounds in Oshkosh's regional-clinching win over Wisconsin Lutheran.
 
Four Titans garnered All-WIAC recognition this season, including First Teamers in junior guard Sammi Beyer (Appleton/Appleton East) and senior forward Sarah Hardwick (Green Bay/Notre Dame Academy), and an Honorable Mention selection in senior guard Avery Poole (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove). Beyer was a finalist for WIAC Player of the Year honors while Hardwick and Poole also represented Oshkosh on the five-member WIAC All-Defensive Team.
 
Beyer averages 11.8 points and a team-best 3.17 assists per game. She has made a team-leading 49 3-pointers and ranks ninth nationally with a 2.30 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Hardwick adds 7.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest while shooting 50.8 percent (94-185) from the floor. She is second on the squad with 35 steals and 30 blocks.
 
Poole, contributing 6.2 points per game, is second on the team with 34 made 3-pointers.
 
The Titans also feature senior guard Kate Huml (Janesville/Janesville Craig) at 5.1 points per contest, senior forward Olivia Argall (Dodgeville/Dodgeville) at 4.7, junior forward Mallory Hoitink (Hartford/Slinger) at 3.9, senior guard Bridget Froehlke (Wrightstown/Wrightstown) at 3.1, senior forward Mahra Wieman (Sparta/Reedsburg Area) at 2.6, senior forward Mayah Holzhueter (Cambridge/Cambridge) at 2.5, junior forward Hope Barington (Sobieski/Notre Dame Academy) at 2.0, and freshman guard Abbey Inda (Cottage Grove/Monona Grove) at 2.0.
 
Hardwick and Huml both played in their program record-breaking 120th games Saturday against Wisconsin Lutheran.
 
The Titans are 5-5 versus WashU since 1975. Oshkosh has won the two most recent meetings by scores of 73-60 at WashU in 2023 and 78-42 in Kolf Sports Center in 2022. The teams will be meeting for the seventh time in the NCAA tournament. WashU, which sports a 4-2 mark against the Titans during the NCAA postseason, eliminated Oshkosh during the quarterfinals in 1998 (53-45) and 1999 (56-55), the second round in 2000 (67-46) and the third round in 2017 (68-56). The Titans ousted the Bears from the NCAA tournament during the third round in 1996 (75-53) and the second round in 2014 (72-66).
 
Oshkosh, the 1995 runner-up, owns a 43-18 record during 21 appearances in the Division III Championship.
 
WashU Bears

WashU secured its spot in the Sweet 16 with victories of 65-53 over SUNY Geneseo during the first round and 73-68 over regional host Ohio Wesleyan University during the second round in Delaware, Ohio.
 
The Bears finished second in the UAA standings, four games behind two-time reigning national champion and unbeaten New York University. WashU received the eighth at-large bid into the 64-team NCAA field.
 
WashU is one of the top shooting teams in the country, ranking fifth with a .452 field goal percentage and seventh with a .348 3-point percentage.
 
UAA is led by a duo of All-UAA First Team players in junior center Lexy Harris and junior guard Sidney Rogers.
 
Harris, ranked fourth in the country with a .606 (212-35) field goal percentage, averages 18.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. She recorded 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the floor and collected eight rebounds during the regional-clinching win at Ohio Wesleyan.
 
Rogers is averaging 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and a team-best 3.6 assists per contest. She scored a total of 35 points and dished out 11 assists in the Bears' two regional victories.
 
Junior guard Alyssa Hughes is adding 10.9 points per game for a WashU team that also gets also gets 8.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest from senior forward Jordan Rich. Hughes (68) and Rogers (51) have combined to drain 119 3-pointers this season.
 
WashU boasts a 77-30 record in 34 NCAA trips. No program has won more national postseason games, won more national titles, played in more championship games (9) or made more Final Fours (10). The Bears, attempting to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2011, were Division III champions in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2010. They also produced runner-up showings in 1994, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
 
Hope Flying Dutch

Hope punched a ticket to the Sweet 16 with home wins of 103-65 over Pennsylvania State University Behrend during the first round and 90-85 in overtime against Illinois Wesleyan University in the second round. The Flying Dutch, who won each of their 15 home games on the year, enters the third round on a 10-game winning streak overall.
 
After finishing as the runner-up in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular season standings by one game behind Trine University (Ind.), Hope earned the MIAA's automatic berth into the Division III Championship by winning the association's postseason crown at Trine.
 
Like WashU, Hope is one of the top shooting teams in the nation, ranking third in 3-point percentage (.358) on the way to listing seventh at 77.0 points per game and ninth in average scoring margin at +21.6.
 
Hope sophomore guards Anna Richards and Maddie Petroelje were tabbed All-MIAA First Team while sophomore forward, and Anna's twin sister, Leah Richards was named All-MIAA Second Team.
 
Anna Richards leads the squad at 12.3 points, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. She shoots 45.3 percent (43-95) from 3-point range and grabs 5.7 rebounds per contest.
 
Petroelje is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in the nation, going 66-for-140 from beyond the arc to rank second with a .471 percentage. She averages 11.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest.
 
Leah Richards chips in 11.2 points, a team-high 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Rounding out Hope starting lineup for each of the team's 29 games are junior guard Terin Maynard and senior guard Sydney Vis. Vis, who has a team-best 23 blocks, and Maynard are adding 11.0 and 6.8 points per game, respectively.
 
Hope has won two of its three all-time meetings with Oshkosh, including a 63-57 decision during the most recent matchup in 2018 in Delaware, Ohio. The other two games of the series occurred during the Division III Championship as Oshkosh won at home, 68-44, in the 1995 first round in Albee Hall, and Hope also won at home by a 68-67 count during the 1990 second round in Holland, Mich.
 
Hope, which sports a 52-20 record in 25 NCAA postseason appearances, is tied for second in division history with three national titles, winning it all in 1990, 2006 and 2022. The Flying Dutch, the 2010 Division III runners-up, are seeking their fifth trip to the Final Four.
 
UChicago Maroons

UChicago is back in the Sweet 16 for the fifth time and first since 2023 after defeating Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.), 60-44, during the first round and UW-Whitewater by a 62-46 score during the second round in Whitewater.
 
The Maroons placed third behind NYU and WashU in the UAA regular standings and earned the 12th of 21 at-large bids into the national tournament. The UAA is Division III's lone women's basketball league that does not conduct a postseason tournament, determining its NCAA qualifier based on conference standings.
 
UChicago is averaging 61.8 points and allowing 54.2 per contest on the year.
 
Headlining the Maroons are a trio of All-UAA players, including First Teamers in sophomore forward Annabelle Spotts and sophomore guard Chris Sanders. UChicago senior guard Kate Gross was named All-UAA Honorable Mention.
 
Spotts leads the way for the Maroons at 11.3 points per game while Sanders is second at 10.7 and Gross is fifth at 6.6 points to go along with a team-high 2.2 assists. Sanders has knocked down a squad-best 37 3-pointers.
 
Other team leaders include junior forward Kasi Samuda with 8.1 rebounds per contest and senior forward Caroline Workman with 25 blocks.
 
The Maroons have lost both of their two prior meetings with Oshkosh. The Titans slipped past UChicago, 60-58 in overtime, during the second game of the season for both teams on November 8 in De Pere.
 
UChicago is 14-10 in 11 NCAA postseason appearances. The Maroons, who are 1-3 overall during the third round, are seeking their first Final Four trip.